


Neon lights against the black sky

by jinkyudai



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gang World, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, slow burn?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 13:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15819720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinkyudai/pseuds/jinkyudai
Summary: Akaashi’s estranged father dies and leaves his inheritance to his right-hand man. Except, Akaashi finds himself part of that inheritance.





	Neon lights against the black sky

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a Got7 fanfic but slowly developed into haikyuu haha. This idea is kinda experimental so let's see how it goes

The first call comes in just before dawn.

Bleary and unaware, Akaashi reaches over and ends it without a second glance. He goes back to sleep and by the time he awakes a few hours later, he’s already forgotten about it.

Quickly cycling through his morning routine, he heads out for work and soon becomes immersed in the day’s activities. When he does remember the phone call, he passes it off as spam and that’s the end of it.

And then he gets a second call.

It’s during his lunch break, but when he sees the _Unknown_ flashing across his screen, he ends it without thinking anything of it. He tells himself that just like the first call, it’s probably spam. He ignores the unsettling weight in his chest, which he chalks off as stress.

He’s working on a big project for his company and if all goes well, he could gain a decent promotion. There’s also something on the news lately that has everyone on edge so perhaps, his uneasiness is a combination of both events.

There was a shooting earlier this week in the eastern districts of Tokyo, somewhere Akaashi knows well not to set foot in. The news claim it’s an isolated case of violence without giving much information on it, but Akaashi already knows what it is–gang violence.

The eastern districts are the capitals for the underground despite its relatively innocuous appearance. In the day, perhaps it’s a quaint tourist attraction constantly featured on TV shows, but by night, it’s a vastly different place. Akaashi would know, considering all the years he spent there.

There are those victimized by the violence and other issues and there are those forcibly bound to the syndicates until they pay off their debts. But, there are also those who are neither victims nor perpetrators; they’re perpetual prisoners, forced to watch others commit the worst atrocities over and over again, but unable to do anything about it.

Akaashi was able to escape, but he remembers everything in vivid detail.

After all, how does he forget sixteen years of his life?

He likes to think that he’s doing relatively well for someone in his position. So well that he sometimes wonders if he’s really fine.

Occasionally, he wonders if anyone was able to track him down. No matter how far away he tried to go, even attending college in another country, he ended up getting pulled back to Tokyo in the end. If anyone tried, they could easily find his employment and then his address.

So far, no one has come after him. They either don’t see him as a threat or they forgot about him. He’s relieved, but there’s still that tinge of hurt. It’s fine because he’s free and happ–not happy, but satisfied. He has a well-paying job at a big corporation and a high-rise apartment in the midst of Tokyo.

He’s content.

But, he really should’ve known that with all the time that’s passed, he’s been lulled into a sense of false security.

That’s why when the third call comes in just after he gets into his apartment, he doesn’t suspect the coincidental timing or the same _Unknown_ sender. He answers it, hoping that would deter the spammer from calling again.

“Who is this?”

“It’s been a while.”

He feels his blood run cold at the achingly familiar voice. “W-who is this?” he asks again, but he thinks he already knows the answer.

It really was false security this entire time.

“You don’t remember me, Keiji? That’s hurtful.” They laugh lightly, but Akaashi isn’t fooled by the obviously fake pleasantries.

“Konoha-san.”

“Ahh, so you do remember!” Akaashi doesn’t respond, letting the silence run. Konoha called for a reason. They were never close despite Konoha’s tendency to act as a caretaker for the members. He did show some pity for Akaashi back then, but his loyalty to the syndicate outweighed that; this means that if Konoha has Akaashi’s number, then so do the others.

And if the others do, that means his father does as well.

“I see you’re still as reticent as ever…” Konoha continues after a while. That isn’t true; after Akaashi left, he became much happier and open. “But, we can catch up later. Right now, I think you should know something.”

There’s a “catch up later” involved. Akaashi closes his eyes with a grim frown and tries not to think about what that means for him. He tries not to think about how there’s a possibility everything he has now may be uprooted from him as he’s forced back into the syndicate. He tries hard to ignore the sinking fear striking through him.

“Have you seen the news lately?”

“What about it?” Akaashi asks just before he puts two and two together. “Is this about the shooting?”

Of course it is. Of course they were involved. He should’ve recognized that feeling early; it was suspicion that connected the timely calls to the recent event, but he’s grown so accustomed to ignoring it. He’s grown so accustomed to hoping that he was fine when in actuality, he was far from it.

“So you’ve heard about it.” Konoha pauses, clicking his tongue a few times as if he doesn’t know what to say. “Do you know anything about it?”

“Two civilians were injured.” He leaves it at that, but he’s sure Konoha can pick up the silent “are you responsible”. He seems to have ignored it.

“One of them wasn’t a civilian.”

“Oh?”

Konoha takes a while to respond again. “It was a bad fight. We barely made it out and it was the first time we were ever outmaneuvered like that–Kuroo thinks there was dirty play involved. But...we didn’t completely get away. We lost a member, someone very close to you.”

Akaashi feels his blood run cold again. He was only “close” to one person.

“Last night, Boss passed away from his wounds.”

Oh.

Oh.

Akaashi looks down at the floor, slowly processing the information. The Boss is dead. The leader of the syndicate–the person Akaashi grew up with is dead. He shakily holds his phone up to his ears again, but when he opens his mouth, nothing comes out.

His father is dead.

“I see,” he thinks he says. He’s not sure because he barely hears anything.

“What do you mean ‘I see’?” Konoha replies angrily. “Your father was murdered!”

Akaashi wants to shout back “Was he really murdered?” Was his father really the victim or just got caught in the crossfire he started himself? He wants to reminds Konoha of all the atrocities his father did to other innocent people, but he can’t seem to get any words out.

“Are you really not going to respond?” Konoha snaps again. “Is ‘I see’ really all you can give me? Keiji, your father died! I know it’s been years since you’ve seen him, but surely you haven’t forgotten how much he’s done for you–”

Akaashi hangs up.

He lets the phone drop to his side as he rests his head in his hands. He’s free. His last tie was finally cut. He’s Keiji Akaashi, not the Boss’s son, not a member of the syndicate, not anything else. He has no obligations to the underworld anymore.

He’s free.

And he feels terrible.

He feels light-hearted, empty, like his head is still trying to wrap itself around the news that his father was killed. His legs shake from how hard he’s driving his elbows into them and his eyes water up. He feels a few warm teardrops roll down his cheeks and then, he’s full on crying.  
Not sobs, but soundless cries.

He thinks he’s mourning, even though when he thinks back to his father, he only remembers cold glares and locked doors. He remembers painful slaps and an empty house, dark rooms, and lonely nights. He remembers his own miserableness.

But, he still mourns.

Except, is it mourning?

Is it mourning when his eyes burn from the hot tears spilling down his face like a broken dam? When his throat constricts tightly and his shoulders heave from the deep breaths he takes? Is it mourning when his body starts trembling until he’s shaking from the uncontrolled sobs wrecking through him–

Is it mourning when his heart feels so heavy, yet his mind remains so blank?

 

\-------------------

 

Konoha shows up to his apartment a week later.

Akaashi doesn’t question how he even got into the building and simply lets him in with a soft greeting. Konoha looks the same, handsome and sophisticated; if Akaashi didn’t know better, he would assume Konoha’s a lawyer or some heir rather than a cold-blooded criminal.

As Konoha enters, he glances around the sleek apartment appreciatively. “You’re doing really well, Keiji,” he says with a proud grin. Akaashi nods silently, knowing that the smile’s anything but sincere. He leads Konoha to his living room and considers bringing drinks.

Whatever reason Konoha has for being here will certainly take a while.

“I checked your profile. You’re doing work as a software developer now? I’m impressed!” He flashes the same grin again, but Akaashi ignores it.

“Why are you here?”

Konoha clicks his tongue indignantly. “Let’s at least catch up a little, Keiji.”

“You already know everything from my ‘profile’. Just tell me what you want from me.”

“I don’t want anything from you?” Konoha says teasingly, prolonging the conversation more than necessary. As uncomfortable as Akaashi feels, he still acknowledges the nostalgic familiarity of talking to Konoha. If anything, Konoha was the realest person in the entire syndicate; he was cunning and harsh at times, but he never hid it. He openly disapproved of Akaashi’s weaknesses rather than friended him only to disparage him behind his back.

That still didn’t change the fact that he, like many others, only saw Akaashi as a hindrance.

Which is why it wouldn’t make sense to bring Akaashi back into the syndicate, if that’s what Konoha is here for. His decision of running away and living as a completely new person should be enough of a hint that he doesn’t want anything to do with them.

And especially now that he doesn’t have any connection left.

Last week was a blur.

He vaguely remembers alternating between crying, staring vacantly at his ceiling, and pacing around until he stopped altogether. He remembers sitting on his bed, unable to sleep as he watches the city shift from night to morning, from neon lights to a dull black. He remembers that his tears stopped at some point.

And throughout it all, he never felt anything.

He didn’t feel grief or anger, or regret, or satisfaction. He felt blank.

It felt like he had a void in his heart, but that void had always been there. Perhaps, what’s affecting him is the realization that now, it’s impossible to fill in the hole.

Whatever he’s feeling–some sort of impassive mourning–he’s good at hiding it. His coworkers didn’t notice anything different. He didn’t think he even acted differently. After spending so many years learning to bottle up his emotions as a child, he’s grown quite proficient at it.

Konoha, however, notices.

He’s staring at Akaashi wordlessly, his expression unreadable, but Akaashi can see a trace of sympathy; it’s genuine this time and a part of him is grateful for it.

“I’m sorry for losing my temper last time.”

“It’s fine.” What else can he say? Akaashi understands Konoha’s anger even if Konoha can’t understand him. To Konoha, he lost a leader and a father figure. While his own father was cold and dismissive towards Akaashi, he was warm and fond towards the others.

“You’re not just here to apologize, right?” Akaashi says after a while, pushing away the bitter thoughts of his father. It’s too late to dwell on the past anyway.

Konoha looks hesitant, almost nervous. It’s a weird look on someone who’s usually so composed. Whatever he has to say, it can’t be good. “I’ll get straight to it then. The Boss left an inheritance,” he says, watching Akaashi carefully.

Akaashi keeps his face neutral, but he’s surprised on the inside. He knew his father had a will, but he never would’ve imagined himself to be involved. He briefly entertains the idea of his father leaving the syndicate to him as some sort of apology, but that is just laughable. He can easily produce a list of all the flaws his father saw in him–all the reasons why he isn’t suited to be his heir.

One, Akaashi is too soft–too weak.

“What part do I play in this?”

Konoha raises an eyebrow at his resigned tone, but continues, “The will was very short and straight-forward as we expected, but there is an unusual condition. Normally, we would’ve dismissed this, but with the way he incorporated the terms, under the syndicate code–”

“Just get on with it.”

Konoha glances at him cautiously again. “The syndicate and its assets was left to the right-hand of the Boss, Bokuto Koutarou.”

Akaashi expected as much.

Back then, there was a boy his father raised along with him. He was the recently orphaned son of another Boss at that time, but Akaashi’s father saw some sort of potential in him. All the time and attention he didn’t give Akaashi was spent on Bokuto. As expected, they never got along. Akaashi because he was jealous. Bokuto because he was an asshole.

Initially, Akaashi welcomed him as a brother. They were close in age and since Bokuto had recently lost his parents, Akaashi wanted to help. Except, Bokuto made it clear that Akaashi was nothing but a thorn in his side. He constantly humiliated Akaashi, whether it be verbal harassment or challenging him to fights he always lost.

In the end, Bokuto became what Akaashi never could’ve.

A right-hand is the most important person to the Boss; Akaashi was nothing to him.

“If Bokuto is the new Boss, then what does any of this have to do with me?”

“That was one of the conditions of the inheritance. The other condition is…” Konoha trails off, watching him carefully again.

It’s a little annoying since it’s not like Akaashi can do anything to him. The other way around actually, he thinks and before he can stop himself, he blurts out, “Are you going to kill me?”

Konoha takes a step back in shock. “What?! No, no, Keiji, of course we can’t kill you. You’re the Boss’s son.”

“That doesn’t mean shit anymore.”

“Regardless of who’s the current Boss, it doesn’t change who you are.”

“Then what other role can I possibly play in this?” Akaashi crosses his arms and Konoha looks almost sheepish now.

“See, that’s where it gets difficult. Keiji…” There’s a pregnant pause after that, which does absolutely nothing to calm Akaashi’s nerves. He tries to keep his face straight, but there are a million scenarios going through his head. Did his father name him Bokuto’s right-hand in some weird twist of fate? Does he have to die for Bokuto to get the inheritance?

After what feels like eternity, Konoha finally continues, “In the assets your father listed, you were named.”

What?

Akaashi furrows his eyebrows in confusion, wondering if he heard right. “What do you mean I’m listed as an asset?”

“You, Akaashi Keiji, is considered as part of the syndicate–”

“Are you saying that I’m _part_ of the inheritance? That I didn’t get anythin–I don’t want anything from him,” Akaashi rambles angrily, unable to believe this whole fucked up situation. “I don’t want anything from him and he’s made it clear he doesn’t want anything from me. So how the fuck am I an _asset_?”

An asset. An _object_.

He wants to laugh or cry, or maybe both. Is that how it is? In the end, his father couldn’t even see him as a human being? From start to finish, he was just a _thing_ to him–a product of a long forgotten mistake. Some _thing_ that was never supposed to happen, but it did, and it didn’t go away enough for his father so he supposes he just has to fuck him up even more.

Akaashi staggers back, resting his head against the cool marble walls. Is this his punishment for leaving? Was he supposed to stay in the syndicate, forever suffering for something he can’t help?

He never asked to be born. He never asked to be born as the Boss’s son.

“Perhaps, there is a reason for this,” Konoha offers, stepping closer to Akaashi. He wants to push the older man away, wants to tell him to get out and never bother him again, but all Akaashi does is stare miserably. “He may be trying to help you–”

“How is taking away my life helping me? Konoha-san, I don’t belong in the syndicate. You know that well. Why is he pulling me back and in such a fucked up way?”

“In the end, you’re still his son.”

“I spent sixteen years with him and he never acknowledged that. Why would that change when it’s been almost a decade since I’ve seen him?”

“The Boss must’ve had his reasons. I know you didn’t have the best relationship, but the Boss isn’t the monster you paint him out to be.”

Akaashi scoffs derisively and ignores the disapproving glare Konoha gives him. “You really don’t understand. He may have been _wonderful_ towards you, but he hated me. I...was his biggest mistake.”

And damn did it hurt to say that out loud.

Akaashi shouldn’t care, but he’s always been too soft.

At least it shuts Konoha up. The other regards him silently, again with that unreadable expression, and Akaashi averts his gaze. He can’t stand to look at him, afraid of what he’ll see. He just revealed a huge part of himself, laid his weakness out for Konoha to attack.

Except, he doesn’t.

Instead, Konoha steps back. He straightens his coat and turns towards the front door. “I truly believe that your father has reasons for doing this. You may not believe this and I won’t force you to. But, you should know that you always have a place with us.”

“Do I really?”

“No matter how much time passes or how far you go, you will always be part of us. Once you become part of a syndicate, you never leave.” With that said, Konoha pulls open the front door and exits the apartment without a glance backwards.

As soon as the door closes, Akaashi’s knees give out and he collapses on the floor with Konoha’s words replaying over and over again in his mind.

Once he becomes part of a syndicate, he can never leave.

But what happens when Akaashi was never part of it to begin with?


End file.
